CALLS have been made to speed up repairs to a crash barrier on the A55, which was damaged in a crash almost four months ago.

The central reservation was damaged at Abergwyngregyn, near Llanfairfechan, when a HGV overturned on August 1.

Temporary repairs saw concrete blocks placed between the carriageways and the speed limit cut to 40mph – a restriction that has remained in place ever since. Since then there have been five crashes in the area with the most recent on Monday evening.

Barrie Durkin, who lives nearby, said: “It is very surprising it has taken so long to carry out this work, we’ve been told it is because they needed to get a special guard made because it is over a river.

“This last crash was virtually on the site of the lorry smash, confusion over the speed limit may have something to do with it, but this whole stretch is already dangerous and must be looked at again and brought up to the standard of the rest of the A55.”

Llyr Gruffydd, Plaid Cymru regional AM for North Wales, said: “The A55 is incredibly busy right along the coast and any accidents cause huge problems.

“I’ve been caught in traffic jams and people have had to cancel meetings due to accidents blocking the road.

“The A55 is such a vital artery for the North and disruption like this emphasises how over-dependent we are on this one route. So I’m surprised therefore that repairing the central reservation has taken so long and hopefully work will start quickly so that the dual carriageway will be fully re-opened soon.”

A Welsh Government spokesman said: "The work to repair the barrier requires preparation and planning to ensure that it’s done as effectively as possible. Measures have been taken to maintain drivers’ safety in the area ahead of the work taking place.”